Destroy All Humans! - Australian Review (Reviews)

Chris Stead, GamePro Australia

13/09/2005 12:28:32

Warning! Warning! This game is so damn hot, it makes a room full of Natalie Portman's look like the moshpit at a Sepultura concert. Australian developer Pandemic's long-coming Alien invasion is everything we could have hoped for and more. It's original, it's very funny, it's super sexy and above all, its bloody good fun! And although there is definitely room for growth and improvement, this is proof positive that a good idea can go a long, long way.

And what an idea it is! In a twist on the gaming norm, you play not the badass, cigar chomping hero but the alien invader to which said hero is usually applying an ass whoppin'. Gamers take control of Cryptosporidium 137 who has been sent by his Furon overlord to Earth to prepare it for invasion. It seems that years of fiddling with atomic weaponry has left the Furon population's genitalia as useless and limp as a six-month old carrot and thus they have reverted to cloning for reproduction. But with the genetic pool starting to look more like an old man's pee puddle, the Furon's need to fill it up with the DNA that's readily available on Earth.

Ironically, you begin your invasion in 1950s, white-picket, middle-town America: an era and region not particularly renowned for its genetic diversity. However, the 1950s is the perfect setting for the game and Pandemic have had a wow of a time tearing the social paranoias, alien fascinations and simplistic lifestyles of the era to shreds using humorous cut-scenes, brilliant dialogue and distinctive settings. Right from the enjoyable opening intro, you feel like you're playing out any number of classic Sci-fi films (think Plan 9 From Outer Space, War of the Worlds, Men in Black, The Omega Man) with the good natured humour of Mars Attacks! You'll end up looking forward to the many story progressing cut-scenes, especially cinema buffs who can appreciate the constant in-jokes.

As for the gameplay, it copies the GTA template to enjoyable success. The game is broken down into six 'cities', with each city containing a number of core missions that must be completed to progress to the next. There is a real open-ended feel to the environment, with plenty of side-quests to enjoy, bonuses to collect and areas to explore. Indeed it captures the same timelessness of GTA, and you will often find yourself getting distracted on destructive tangents or exploratory missions that add hours to the gameplay. The environments feel alive with activity too and you will witness cool things like NPCs getting involved in car accidents. However, it is a testament to San Andreas' daunting legacy that you end up feeling disappointed that you can't enter buildings, drive cars or wander off forever into the country - at least you can enter the UFO whenever you feel like it and rain terror from above.

Time to Die, Human Scum
Rarely has a videogame come up with such inventive ways of killing humans and molesting farm animals. Even the simple Zap-O-Matic has a, literally, electrifying effect, frying humans down to just their skeleton, as does the Ion Disintegrator. Obviously there is the Anal Probe which can unleash a rump rogering of plutonic proportions, causing the unfortunate target's last three meals to evacuate at one end while their brain escapes through the other - absolutely frickin' awesome! One very fun thing to do is to pick people up with your telepathic abilities and then just swing them around and bash them into trees, buildings, cars or even, other humans. You can do similar tricks in the UFO too, using your tractor beam to flatten platoons with a protesting cow or hurl trucks at houses. Yep, it is easy to forget the actual game and just have fun in DAH, as Crypto says, "humanity is not going to annihilate itself!"

And raining terror is where DAH is at thanks to innovative combat and a wonderfully responsive control scheme. Crypto's range of weaponry is simply awesome with the Zap-O-Matic, Ion Disintegrator and Quantum Deconstructor paling in comparison to one of ETs greatest creations: bend over gamers and give gaseous applause to the one and only, Anal Probe: a weapon so powerful it can blow a human's brain clear out of its skull. Now, that's one cosmic colonoscopy. This destructive capability is matched in UFO mode with Death Rays, Tractor Beams and Sonic Booms that can level entire buildings. Then there are Crypto's telepathic capabilities which include; picking up and throwing objects, hypnotising, reading thoughts, mimicking form and extracting brains. Yep, in a straight-up fight, Crypto would beat CJ's ass right back to the hood.

When you combine this massive range of gameplay mechanics with Crypto's jetpack (which can get you anywhere), you get a wonderful sense of freedom in approaching objectives. For example, in the second mission you need to sneak into a carnival. You could hypnotise the bloke at the gate and get him to create a distraction, you could make yourself look human and waltz in, you could head in all guns blazing or you could even hurl objects with your mind and send people running for their lives.

There are question marks over difficulty though. Competent gamers will stroll through most of the core missions quickly and painlessly. There are several grades of human adversary (through farmers, cops, military and the MIB inspired G-Men), but their difficulty doesn't escalate in big enough increments. Also, Crypto's shield and concentration bar (which determines his ability to use telepathic attacks) recharge too quickly. It's a shame too as the AI is quite smart, reacting in believable ways to your actions and attacking in force. Jump from behind a bush and scare a resident, for example, and they will scream in panic, run blindly across a street and, if there is a car approaching, find themselves run-over.

Unsurprisingly, DAH looks superb. The cut-scenes are particularly well done, but the environments, general animations and weaponry effects are also impressive. The game's biggest demon is pop-up, which plagues this game like campers scourge Counter-Strike, plus a greater range of death animations and models and more violent explosions would have gone down a treat. But it's easy to turn a blind eye to these issues in the face of so much intelligent and loving developmental flourishes. Like the sweeping sci-fi score, the massive range of well-researched and hilarious NPC dialogue, the self-referencing newspaper reports and the great vocal SFX. Really, this is one of the more welcoming, affable and demographically flexible games ever created.

We can't stop smiling over DAH. It will be long remembered for its irresistible characters, funny story and probealicious weaponry and while many will whinge over the graphical gremlins and difficulty issues, this remains awesome entertainment. As Crypto says, "it's probing time!"

Verdict
A wonderfully engaging and super fun gaming experience that allows you to blow the crap out of small-town America - what more could you want?!
Pros: Story, responsive controls, crazy weaponry, anal probe.
Cons: Difficulty, could have had more oomph visually.

Score = 9.5/10



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Graphics: 3.5 Sound: 4.5 Control: 4.5 Fun Factor: Fun Factor
Scoring scale: 1-5
Publisher: THQ / Developer: Pandemic / Retail Price: $99.95 (PlayStation 2) /, $99.95 (Xbox) / Release date: 16/08/2005 / Genre: Action, Adventure / OFLC Rating: M (15+)